SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- PMC-Sierra(TM), Inc. (Nasdaq:PMCS) today announced that it has taken steps to align its governance initiatives with emerging industry practices. In that context, the roles of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board have been separated and the Company has adopted a Code of Ethics for Principal Executive and Senior Financial Officers.Alexandre Balkanski has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. Dr. Balkanski has been a director of PMC-Sierra since August 1993 and is an active member of several committees of the Board. Bob Bailey, who previously held the positions of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at PMC-Sierra, continues in his role as President and CEO of the Company."These steps are in keeping with the best corporate governance practices in the industry today," said Bob Bailey, President and CEO, PMC-Sierra. "PMC-Sierra is being proactive on some of the important proposals concerning corporate governance, business ethics, and codes of conduct."Dr. Balkanski, in addition to being Chairman of PMC-Sierra, is a General Partner at Benchmark Capital, a venture capital firm. In July 1988, Dr. Balkanski co-founded C-Cube Microsystems, Inc. (a developer of integrated circuits and software) and he has held a variety of senior management positions with that company, including President and Chief Executive Officer.Mr. Bailey joined PMC-Sierra in 1993 and has been a director of the Company since October 1996. He has served as PMC-Sierra's President and Chief Executive Officer since July 1997 and was appointed as Chairman of the Board in February 2000. Prior to joining PMC-Sierra, Mr. Bailey was employed by AT&T-Microelectronics (now Agere Systems) from August 1989 to November 1993 where he served as Vice President and General Manager and at Texas Instruments in various management assignments from June 1979 to August 1989.PMC-Sierra Inc.